SARAH:
A Ghostly Victorian Romance
When you think of the best day of your life, you may think of your graduation day, others may think of the day their child was born. It could be the day you landed your dream job or bought your dream car. It could be the day you got the keys to your first place away from your parents and the freedom that came with it. Maybe it’s your retirement, or moving to a destination you always wanted to live in. It could be the day you become engaged to the love of your life. But for Brocarde, an English musician, the best day of her life was when she got married to her husband, who just so happens to be a ghost.
Brocarde had always been a bit skeptical when it came to the paranormal. But something shocking gave her a change of heart.
On a particularly gloomy day, Brocarde was in her bedroom trying to fall asleep. She had been having trouble sleeping since she and one of her friends had gotten into a heated argument. The storm wasn’t helping her as she said the wind was loudly howling and the rain was hitting the windows unnaturally hard. She kept replaying the upsetting events of the day over and over until she started to feel something she had never felt before.
She said that her heart had an intense burning sensation that would make its way through her whole body. She noted that it was like a tingle and it went from her heart to her toes before vanishing completely.
In that instant, she bolted upright in her bed. She said “I was forced into a sitting position, I reached back to turn on the bedside light but my hand was forced back away, I tried again this time I was able to pull the cord.”
She describes how she felt a foreign warmth on her neck and accompanying that was a whisper of “I love you.” Right after that, she explained how the warmth was pulled away and she was once again alone in her room, in the cold. This is how she knew her ghostly visitor had left her. She laid back down, shaking and sobbing. She said she felt possessed by her emotions.
Brocarde finally fell asleep, she woke up the next day and could do nothing but think of the strange events of the previous night. She dwelled on it for days and thought that maybe she was just overthinking or that what had happened was just a dream. But then strange things started happening to her again.
She said she would take a shower, and hearts would appear in the steam on the mirror that she didn’t put there. She tried to communicate with the spirit and would have visions and would speak to her. He whispered into her ear Edwardo, so she took that as his name. (Can you imagine if that is the name of his lover or the person that murdered him?)
She said she would see him walk by her in the house out of the corner of her eye. That he could be jealous, like if she wore a revealing outfit he would tear it, or hide it from her.
She said “I saw his images as a Victorian soldier, he was always in his uniform, his face is devilishly handsome, shoulder length unruly hair, he looks lived in, well worn, trouble almost, there’s a pain attached to his being. His voice is commanding and forceful, yet he whispers to seduce.” Through almost two years of repeated encounters and slowly showing more of himself to her, she was wholeheartedly seduced by the spirit of Edwardo.
As Brocarde was showering one night, she pulled back the shower curtain to a question written on her foggy mirror that said, “Will you marry me?”. Edwardo had proposed, and of course she said yes. When she woke up, there was a ring laying on the pillow next to her.
On Halloween day in 2022, the unique couple got married. She said “I couldn't think of a more appropriate day to get married than Halloween, it's like Valentine's day for spirits so for Edwardo it’s the most romantic night of the year.”
There is a video on YouTube of the ceremony. The backdrop was rough stone and tons of candles lit up on the floor. Brocarde was wearing a lacy black dress with a black veil and holding a bouquet that looked like grave moss. Brocarde said “Wedding dress shopping has been challenging as Edwardo is very specific with what he likes. Anything revealing or tacky is an instant turn off to him and he gets so, so angry, he likes it when I leave things to the imagination.
Luckily I love the Victorian era so his taste is very much in-keeping with my personal style. I’ve had to keep these rules in mind while shopping for my dream dress. From the moment I got engaged I had my heart set on marrying in a church or chapel, I didn’t think it was possible due to the religious complications so I burst into tears when I found the location as it’s a beautiful chapel with gorgeous stained glass windows.”
The officiant was in a full black suit. In the video you can see her holding her hand out like she is holding Edwardo’s hand. The officiant reads his ceremony script and starts off with…”You’re about to make promises that you intend to keep. You’re vowing to stand up for one another, find happiness in one another and grow as a team together.”
Officiant - “Brocarde, do you take Edwardo to be your partner in the adventure that lies ahead? Do you promise to walk side by side to the ends of the Earth? To love, encourage and support each other in every endeavor? Do you commit to opening yourself up completely and sharing your entire beings together? To share laughter, as well as tears. Do you take Edwardo as your partner for now until the end of time?”
Brocarde - “I do.”
He then reads the script for Edwardo and clearly Edwardo can’t answer that, so Brocarde giggles at the end and says “He does.”
Brocarde then went on to say her vows to Edwardo, which were in the form of lyrics she had written about him, called Haunted.
“My heart is racing
My pulse in overdrive
‘Cause you’re my creepy little lover
That I can no longer hide.
There's a fire between us
That can’t be denied
Be my freaky little lover
‘Til the end of time
Til the church bells chime
You can be my ghost
And no matter how close
I can never truly reach you
Im reaching out
Screaming for you
You're burning in my heart
And now I see you
Haunted
Ghosted
So alive
But dead inside
I’m reaching out
You barely exist
But don’t give me the digits
Of a sick exorcist
‘Cause then I won’t be haunted
Ghosted
So alive
But already dead
My mind is racing
Thoughts in overdrive
But I won’t overthink things
That will kill the vibe
‘Cause we’re lost in time
Have I lost my mind?
Let the church bells chime
You can be my ghost
And now we are so close
I will always try to reach you.”
Unfortunately for the newlyweds, their union would not last long. Brocarde claims that her ghost husband started to become possessive and that he would go from being warm and intense to threatening.
She stated that their relationship had been turbulent from the start and that with Edwardo’s new threatening antics, she was becoming tired of being married to a “free spirit”. She said he was inconsistent with his contact and was barely present.
The more the couple fell out, the more Brocarde saw visions and felt things that were happening. She claims that Edwardo was in love with, and obsessed with Marilyn Monroe. She says that Edwardo first laid his eyes upon Marilyn in the chapel on the day of their wedding, and that is when his attitude towards her changed and he started to become an absent husband.
Brocarde would admit that Edwardo cheated on her with Marilyn, as he would be gone for days and then return with a lingering smell of Chanel No. 5, which was Marilyn’s signature fragrance. She said the scent would fill the entire room. And he would tell her how hot Marilyn looked that day just to rile her up.
She complained about how drunk Edwardo got on their honeymoon in Barry Island in Wales. He apparently went ham on the mini-bar in their hotel room at the expense of his breadwinner of a wife. When they were on the beach, he would tackle her to the sand, when she ate ice cream he would eat it and get it all over her face and in her hair, and get sand in it.
She had thought about couples therapy, but instead of going that route, she chose to go visit a psychic to get her advice there. The psychic told her that it would suit her best to part ways with her supernatural spouse. So she did just that. She took the advice and ran and came to the decision of ending her marriage because his energy was dragging her down.
Edwardo didn’t take this lightly. He began to haunt Brocarde and was being aggressive. He would make sounds like a screaming baby at all hours of the night. This was the nail in the coffin for her relationship with Edwardo. She went back to the chapel they were married in and exorcized him right out of her life. She said afterwards she felt much better and that she had finally purged him out of her system.
She wrote a new song that goes over the details of their “divorce” called “Just Another Anthem.”
Even with the whirlwind romance with Edwardo, Brocarde said she is open to another spirit lover, and maybe even a human lover.
In closing, if you’re feeling sad because you’re alone today, don’t worry, because you may actually not be. When you go to bed alone tonight and put your battery operated boyfriend back in his drawer, the man of your dreams may just be standing next to you waiting to make his presence known.
David:
St. Valentine's and the Origin of Valentine's Day
Valentine’s Day is all about love, chocolate, heart-shaped steaks, and real close dancing. And if all goes well it might be a hot and spicy night and hope you don’t make the best sign of the zodiac and that is Scorpio. And if you are one like me, good luck getting that thought out of your head now about your parents having a wild Valentine's Day.
But to get where we are today with the holiday we have to go back, way back to the third century around Feb 14, 270 CE in the Roman Empire. During the rule of Emperor Claudius II he would become to be known as Claudius the Cruel as he earned this title due to his harsh leadership and tendency to get into wars and abuse his people.
To maintain a strong army to keep up with unpopular and bloody campaigns he constantly was in he would need a strong army to do so but he was having difficulty finding men to become soldiers to join the legions of the Roman army. Claudius believed one of the reasons why Roman men did not want to join the army was because of strong attachments to their wives and family, so to get rid of this problem he would ban all engagements and marriages in Rome.
But bishop Valentine of Temi, Italy didn’t agree with this ban and would risk becoming a martyr for defying the Emperor's ban on marriage and beginning young lovers in secret. And when his actions were discovered by Emperor Claudius he ordered that Valentine be put to death. It is believed that his execution was carried out on this day in 270 CE where he was clubbed to death and decapitated. Before his death, while in jail it's believed that the young couples he married would visit his cell and would pass him notes and flowers as gratitude for his services. Part of the legend that came up was that he left a note to the jailer’s daughter whom he fell in love with signed Your Valentine. For his services during the ban, he would be named a Saint, and his patronages are affianced couples, against fainting, beekeepers, happy marriages, love, mentally ill peoples, plague, epilepsy. His skull or the believed skull of St. Valentine is on display in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Rome and is adorned with a crown of flowers. His association with love and romance wouldn’t come until the 14th century in a poem written by George Chaucer.
"For this was on Saint Valentine's Day
When every bird comes there to choose his match
Of every kind that men may think of
And that so huge a noise they began to make
That earth and air and tree and every lake
Was so full, that not easily was there space
For me to stand—so full was all the place."
But whereas the Pagans, which if you remember from previous episodes anyone that isn’t part of the church are pagans, are celebrating the festival of Lupercalia. From Feb 13 to the 15th. During this festival, it was to promote fertility and good health.
According to Roman legend, the ancient King Amulius ordered Romulus and Remus, his twin nephews and founders of Rome, to be thrown into the Tiber River to drown in retribution for their mother’s broken vow of celibacy.
A servant took pity on them, however, and placed them inside a basket on the river instead. The river-god carried the basket and the brothers downriver to a wild fig tree where it became caught in the branches. The brothers were then rescued and cared for by a she-wolf in a den at the base of Palatine Hill where Rome was founded.
The twins were later adopted by a shepherd and his wife and learned their father’s trade. After killing the uncle who’d ordered their death, they found the cave den of the she-wolf who’d nurtured them and named it Lupercal.
It’s thought Lupercalia took place to honor the she-wolf and please the Roman fertility god Lupercus. During the feast of Lupercalia, male goats and a dog would be sacrificed at Lupercal cave as a representation of sexuality and these sacrifices would be carried out by Roman priests known as Luperci. After the animals were sacrificed their blood would be smeared on the forehead of two naked Luperci and removed with milk-soaked wool as they laughed.
After the feast of Lupercal and the sacrifices are done, the Luperci would cut strips of hide from the sacrificed goats and take to the streets naked whipping any woman in striking distance. And like a 1970s swingers key party, men would randomly choose the name of women from a jar and be coupled with them for the entire duration of the festival. Most of these newly forged couples would stay together until the following year’s festival and many fell in love and stayed together.
Lupercalia would eventually lose its popularity as Christianity grew and the festival became chaste and women would only be whipped on their hands by fully clothed men instead.
Even though the origins of the VD card could be rooted in the legend of St. Valentine’s Note, the first commercial valentines wouldn’t appear until 1797, when a British publisher issued “The Young Man’s Valentine Writer.” Which contained verses for the young lover unable to compose his own. These verses from what I could gather from sources that brought this book of sorts are similar to the poem Roses are Red by Sir Edmund Spense. I did happen to find the original writing of this poem which reads.
The rose is red, the violet’s blue,
The honey’s sweet, and so are you.
Thou are my love and I am thine;
I drew thee to my Valentine:
The lot was cast and then I drew,
And Fortune said it shou’d be you.
Even though most were handmade printers were also producing what were called mechanical valentines that were assembled in factories. But with our Victorian friends, this is where we would see the fancy lace and ribbon Valentines associated with the holiday. In 1835 alone they would send 60k Valentines despite high postage costs. With postal reform 5 years later with the invention of the postal stamp number of cards that would be sent would spread like the plagues of the time to 400k cards sent in 1840 alone. This would make it possible to send cards to your Valentine anonymously which opened up a market for racy-versed Valentine’s Day cards. I did try to find some of these cards and had no luck, but I did find something just as interesting.
So let's go back and visit Willie and Blanche from Ep. 17, the first Clearance Bin episode. So we first met Willie and Blanche when I covered -the history of the secret love language of flowers known as floriography. This is where Willie would ask Blanche if she would be interested in moving pictures and leisure. She accepts and they are now married with kids and with a greenhouse filled with flowers from faraway lands. But this Valentine's Day Blanche receives one of these racy Valentine’s Day cards from the Baron of the Crossing Sweepers Edward Cunnigham II.
Disgusted by what the card reads she wouldn’t dare waste her flowers on such a vile card. So she might send a vinegar Valentine's Day card.
Vinegar VD cards were usually sent anonymously, these cards were just as popular as regular VD cards and filled with insulting poems and illustrations to mock or insult someone's looks, intelligence, or occupation. These cards were often cheap and printed only on one side and were widely popular with the working classes as they only cost a penny.
Some of the verses found on these vinegar VD cards and some of these are from the Victorians and the 1960s:
For declining of advancing men.
You ask to see me home, kind sir I thank you but decline.
One beaut is quite enough for me, I’m satisfied with mine.
You need not to sit upon the fence, to see me going by.
I cannot give you such a chance. There now! Dear me, don't cry.
Bald Head
Your bright shining pate is seen at all shows
And invariably down in the bald-headed rows,
Where you make conspicuous by your tender care
Your true ardent love for that one lonesome hair.
I’m not attracted by your glitter.
For well I know how very bitter
My life would be if I should take you for my spouse, a rattlesnake
Oh no, I’d not accept the ring or
Even more it would prove a sting
You’ve got more curves than a roller coaster
Your Clothes fit like a glove.
There is one thing wrong Glamorpuss
You have a face only a mother could love.
Hey Lover boy, the place for you is home upon the shelf.
Cause the only one who’d kiss you is a jackass like yourself
Vinegar VD cards would be a popular choice until 1905 when expensive gifts and dinners would start to come into favor
Wales
Rather than celebrate love on February 14, residents of Wales celebrate St. Dwynwen’s Day on January 25. St. Dwynwen is the Welsh patron saint of lovers and men traditionally gift women with hand-carved wooden spoons. The tradition is based on the notion that Welsh sailors carved designs into wooden spoons while at sea to bring back to their lovers at home.
Japan
In Japan, women make the first move on Valentine’s Day. They give men gifts instead of the other way around, a popular gift being honmei-choco, a homemade chocolate. Men return the gesture on March 14. Known as White Day, men give women white chocolate and other white gifts as a sign of their affection.
South Korea
As in Japan, women in South Korea give gifts to men on Valentine’s Day while men celebrate White Day. South Korea has a third holiday, however, known as Black Day. Celebrated on April 14, single friends gather to eat noodles and celebrate being single. The name comes from the noodle dish, which includes white noodles in a black sauce.
Slovenia
In Slovenia, February 14 is considered a prime day for working in the fields as St. Valentine is one of the patron saints of spring. Slovenians typically celebrate romance a month later, on St. Gregory’s Day, which falls on March 12.
Finland and Estonia
Finland and Estonia celebrate Friend’s Day on February 14, a day for honoring both friends and significant others. Cards and gifts are still given out, and can be for anyone from a best friend to a neighbor. February 14 is also a popular day to get engaged in both countries. Additionally, Estonia has an interesting tradition for single people—they can take a ride on the Love Bus in hopes of meeting someone special.